Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter this year! We had a blast at grandma's house hunting for eggs and playing with our friends. McKenna was very proud of losing her front tooth and was showing everybody. I thought I would share a few pics....

Manners

Growing up, good manners were not an option, but a must. My parents used to threaten us that if we had bad table manners we would have to eat outside with the dogs. That always made me chuckle a little because we didn't have any dogs. Nevertheless, we didn't want to have to eat outside, especially in winter. I even had friends who were terrified of joining us for dinner after I told them they had to watch their manners because my parents were manner nazis. But I must say that I am very grateful for their teaching. I can not stand to watch someone eat their dinner while laying on the table and chewing with their mouth open. But I will say there are some things I don't do that my parents taught me. For example, sorry mom and dad but I don't cut my sandwich in half. I never have. I also lick my fingers which is one topic my parents disagreed on. Now that I have kids of my own, I have tried to pass on the torch of good table manners. Well I am married to a southerner. Now don't get me wrong, Mark has come a LOOOONG way at the dinner table, but there are some habits I just can't fix. (Talk to my dad if you want to know about Mark's previous table habits). The kids happen to pick up on those bad manners more quickly than the good ones. They know that drinking out of their bowl is not allowed, but how do you tell them no when their dad is at the table doing the same thing? Now it's a game and they think it's hilarious when they do it. McKenna likes to call Pappy just to tell him that she did it. Kaitlyn is innocent and doesn't do it just for laughs. She actually drinks the milk out of her bowl BEFORE she eats the cereal. If you look closely, you can still see the Chex in her bowl. But overall they are pretty well-mannered at the table. Now all we have to work on is that pesky burping!

I couldn't leave this post without putting up pictures of my boys. I am very proud of Joseph's teeth. He is my only child to have more than one tooth at their first birthday! Also, Jacob wanted me to take a picture of him walking on the roots of one of grandma's trees. He thought that was pretty cool!

Tagged

Ok, Andrea tagged me to tell about my husband. Here goes......

1. His name: Mark Allen Lowther, Jr

2. How long have you been married? 7 Years 7 months

3. How long did you date? Well, that's a good question. We started dating in January 1997, spent the summer apart, spent 1 semester together, another semester apart and then 2 years apart while he was on his mission. We got married 3 months after he got home in Aug 2000. So if anyone can figure out how long we dated, please let me know.

4. Who eats more sweets? That's a no-brainer: ME!

5. Who said 'I love you' first? Mark did--left a message for me with my roommate Tina to tell me goodnight and that he loved me.

6. Who is Taller? Unlike Andrea's sarcasm in her answer, this one is close. I will give the edge to Mark though, but not by much.

7. Who can sing better? Mark

8. Who is smarter? Um yeah, Mark.

9. Who does the laundry? Are you kidding me? I don't even let him in the laundry room after I found a load that had white underwear, jeans and towels among other things. I think he intentionally got banned from the laundry room because there's no way he could possible be that clueless about laundry is there?

10. Who pays the bills? Depends on the month, but usually Mark.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Mark

12. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Mark does help out when he can. He is definitely the breakfast cook. I can't make a pancake to save my life.

13. Who drives? Mark, unless he has to study.

14. Who is more stubborn? I tell him that he is, but it's definitely me.

15. Who kissed who first? It just kind of happened--no one can take credit. We were arguing (playfully) and then we were kissing.

16. Who asked who out first? Tina. Yep, gotta give her the credit. She would ask Mark to come swimming with she and I and then she would bail at the last minute saying something came up. This happened several times, so those were our first "dates" I guess you could say.

17. Who proposed? Mark did.

18. Who wears the pants? Well I like to give Mark ideas and let him think they are his. It works out well, I get what I want and he thinks it was his fantastic idea! :)

I love you babe! You are the best decision I ever made!